With actor Tom Cruise “highly prized” by Scientology, organization head David Miscavige reportedly wanted to ensure he was mated with a devout follower to guard against the actor’s “drift” away from the group. Consequently, according to Maureen Orth’s sources in “What Katie Didn’t Know,” Cruise—without his knowledge or consent—was secretly videotaped via hidden cameras disguised in a lamp and a piece of furniture during his “auditing sessions,” which are akin to recorded “confessions.” Those tapes—as well as written reports of what occurred during the sessions—were then personally delivered to Miscavige at his Gold Base headquarters in Hemet. And according to several of Orth’s sources, Miscavige made the contents of Cruise’s and other high-profile celebrities’ audits public while in social settings:

“I know he did it with [the reports of] Lisa Marie Presley, back in ’95, when she was married to Michael Jackson, and I know he did it a number of times with Kirstie Alley. I saw and heard him,” Claire Headley[(who worked directly under Miscavige)] tells me. “He loved to dish about celebrities,” says Tom De Vocht, Miscavige’s former close aide, who went on to run Scientology’s large operation in Clearwater, Florida, where Scientologists from all over the world go to study. According to De Vocht, Miscavige—often joined by his wife, Shelly—would whip out a bottle of Macallan scotch at two, three in the morning in the Officers Lounge, play backgammon, and read the Cruise reports with a running commentary. “He’s probably got a lot of embarrassing material,” De Vocht says, adding that Miscavige’s comments were usually about Cruise’s sex life. “He would roll his eyes and say, ‘Jeez, can you believe it?’” All the while, Miscavige claimed to be Cruise’s best friend.

Scientology representatives, for their part, dispute this account and deny that Cruise’s auditing sessions were ever videotaped, though they have previously said that they videotape audits andthat it is not a secret. They also deny that Miscavige has ever been involved in Cruise’s personal life or ever divulged the contents of Cruise’s or any others’ sessions. According to representatives, Miscavige has always “rigorously upheld the sanctity and confidentiality of ministerial communications.”